Halfway through its first year of operations, Windsor’s new downtown aquatic complex could end up costing much more to operate per year than originally anticipated.

With higher-than-expected hydro costs blamed as the chief culprit, running Adventure Bay and the adjoining Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre is projected to cost $800,000 more in 2014 than the $1.3-million net cost budgeted.

City treasurer Onorio Colucci cautions that the $78-million complex’s budget variance — representing a 62-per-cent higher-than-anticipated operating shortfall — is merely an estimate halfway through its inaugural year and that the year-end financial picture could change, including through mitigation efforts.

All municipally owned recreational facilities operate at a net cost to taxpayers in order to make them more affordable to residents, according to an operating budget variance report discussed by council Tuesday night.

Colucci said estimating how close the downtown aquatic complex will come to meeting its budget target “was probably the hardest projection to make … we only have six months of experience with it.”

The biggest anticipated hit is an anticipated budget overrun of $445,000 for utilities. Of that, $380,000 is for hydro, with provincial rates having skyrocketed by 50 per cent from the relevant prices used at the end of 2011 when the original operating budget was estimated.

Based on actual experience — versus what had been originally projected/budgeted on paper — five extra full-time and three extra part-time lifeguards had to be hired on top of the 27 initially deployed, and that extra staffing required an additional co-ordinator position. Result? An additional $250,000 in staffing costs.

Colucci said the original aquatic complex operating budget came with “caveats” warning that the numbers could change. Without any history to draw on, he said it’s challenging to forecast actual usage or revenues/costs.

But the forecast deficit also comes with caveats.

On the positive side, Adventure Bay recently welcomed its 100,000th visitor, with operators expecting 200,000 annual visits to the family fun portion of the facility. With the opening months devoted to working out the kinks and getting staff up to speed, a marketing plan advertising Windsor’s aquatic complex is only now starting to be rolled out to complement what has largely been only word-of-mouth advertising so far.

A working group committee under community development and health commissioner Jelena Payne has been established and an energy audit will help look at ways of battling the escalating power bills.

Colucci said the tropically themed facility has yet to operate during a Christmas holiday season, when visitor numbers are expected to spike during the cold days of winter. Meanwhile, Windsor’s aquatic complex has created about 280 new full- and part-time jobs in the downtown.

In the originally approved budget for the aquatic complex, total 2014 operating costs were pegged at $5.3 million, a figure which is now projected to rise to $6.1 million. Offsetting that are revenues of $4 million, a projected figure that remains unchanged halfway through the year.

Offsetting the new $2.1-million net cost, however, is about $1.1 million in net savings from council’s decision to close Windsor Water World and sell College Avenue community college, both part of the business model approved by the politicians to get the new aquatic complex built without the need for additional new taxes.

Council had originally approved $260,000 in additional savings on top of that with the proposed closure of the Adie Knox community centre lane pool. But following neighbourhood resistance, as well as increased demand for swim programs triggered by the new facility, council recently reversed that decision.

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